Satellites are unique in their ability to constantly monitor the entire Earth, providing crucial information about our ever-changing planet. From space, we can monitor natural and man-made events, from floods and forest fires, to changes in ice cover, rising sea levels and oil slicks.
ESA’s Earth observation satellites have given Europe a leading role in understanding the global environment. Since 1978, the Meteosat series has provided a wealth of data for the meteorology community, while Envisat and the ERS remote-sensing satellites have allowed scientists to build over 20 years of data sets on environmental phenomena and climate change.
The Earth Explorer missions, including GOCE, SMOS and CryoSat, aim at understanding the Earth system. They are giving scientists breakthrough technologies to study the interaction between the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere and the interior, and the impact that human activity is having on Earth’s natural processes.
The Earth Watch missions will ensure continuity of data sets and provide operational services. MetOp, Europe’s first polar-orbiting meteorological satellite, and an improved version of Meteosat have been developed with EUMETSAT, and new generations of both are under way. ESA is also preparing a series of Sentinel satellites as part of the EU’s Global Monitoring for the Environment and Security initiative, GMES.